Illinois Wing Spring Encampment 2012

[shlebz]

- Line Staff
Squadron Commander (2-3 will be needed):
Two (2) encampments (1 Spring), Grade of C/2d Lt or higher.


are they very strict on the applicant needing 2 encampmentsand one of the two being spring? or would i still posibly have a chance, even though i have only been to 1?

[Eclipse]

This activity is somewhat different than other encampments because of the ops tempo and split weekends, so those with experience
have an advantage, which is why they are preferred for line staff, but like all things CAP, at the end of the day the selections
are made from those who actually apply.

What is indicated is preferential experience and qualifications, not a hard-fast requirement.

[GroundHawg]

I posted this in my squadrons newsletter kind of offhandedly almost as a filler item. Now there are at least one SM going as a TAC and 6 cadets going, and two more applying for staff and ATF if they dont get staff assignments. I might get wrangled into driving one trip... thats what I get!

[shlebz]

when applying for staff we are to send in a hard copy application, using the GLE12 Encampment Application Form....at the end of the form it states i am to send in a check with $85...my questuion is if i don't recieve the staff position am i going to be refunded the $85? or do i send in the $85 once i am confirmed the staff position?

[Eclipse]

You'll need to check w/ the new commander on that, I don't know what the refund policy is this year.

[shlebz]

ok, thanks! :]

[Eclipse]

This video was shot by the Navy and shown all over the world on Navy TV - my first year as Commander.

Civil Air Patrol Illinois Wing Spring Encampment 2004

My worthy successor is in the final stages of preparation for this year, and as the days get closer, I'm missing it.

Hard to believe that the ships featured were all literally brand new, and are now approaching ten years old.
CAP was the first non-Navy group to use many of the facilities since the recapitalization started in 2000, and
in some cases were the only group to use a compartment year-to-year.  In many cases I was the first, probably
only, person to sleep in the PO's Office's rack, as Navy rules don't allow the PO's to sleep in the compartments
with the recruits.

The 928 galley shown is long gone, replaced by smaller galleys attached to each training ship.

The Marlinspike Seamanship Trainer, a perennial favorite, is also shutdown and destined for the wrecking ball.

[Майор Хаткевич]

Oh my, I haven't seen that video in a few years. That was my basic encampment, and I recognized just about a quarter of all the cadets shown. Quite a few were from IL-042, which was my unit then.

Thanks for the memories sir.

[Eclipse]

So...one more in the can, and a double silver for my ribbon rack.


After standing down as commander last year
http://captalk.net/index.php?topic=12750.msg231808#msg231808
I had assumed my days of sleeping at the RTC were over for a while.
I've been working with the new Commander, a more than capable leader
and my former XO for several years, on transition tasks over the
last year, and moreso the last month leading up to things, but
my intention was to function primarily as interloper and possibly
instruct a class or two.  Activities in my new CAP job, including
preparation for an Eval and the AFRCC class had me busy enough that
I could pretend to not miss it (too much).

As luck would have it, a last-minute staff cancellation had me returning
this year as TAC Commander, a job I pretended to take relecutantly,
when in fact I was pretty jazzed to be able to get back in the game
in a meaningful role, while still staying out of the new guys' way.

As with most activities like these, there's a pretty tight group that
acts as the "core" from year-to-year, both cadets and seniors. Not everyone
can play every year, but there's a strong thread of the same high-speed
people, and this year was interesting because we had a number of
recent dark-siders who were involved in important roles.

I have to say I was somewhat nervous about making the "first cuts" in this role.
I hadn't been a TAC in over 8 years, and never under the system that
we built since 2004.  It's one thing to point and expect things to happen,
it's another to be the guy who actually has to do something.

Thankfully we had our usual core group of experienced TACS, supplemented
by a group of strong new people.  This activity can be some what of an
eye-opener to those with experience in a "standard" CAP encampment,
and it's always fun to watch people find their way.

The Navy out did themselves again, rolling out the red carpet for us, and
opening some new doors, both figuratively and literally, all over the base.
We were on the USS Hopper - one of the last ships to be built in the recapitilization
of the RTC that started 10 years ago, and the second newest ship on base.
http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=49733

Most of it is "old home week" - racks, comms, chow, gear-in / gear out, etc.,
is pretty much boiler plate, but it always feels "special" when we first get on base
and into the ship.

I made a point to try and get as many seniors as possible interested in the
pool, and we weren't disappointed.  When I got to the USS Indianapolis,
the entire room was filled with a thick haze. I thought at first that I was looking
through an opaque window, but what I discovered was a lot more fun - the
swim instructors had put out the fog machines, stobe lights, fire hose, and a covered rescue raft.

We had to jump through the fog, which at full smoke completely obscured the
water's surface, swim for the raft, get in, then get out of the raft and swim
for the other side of the pool.  Sweet (and a little intimidating. since the pool is
12ft deep for at least 2/3rds its length, which means sink or swim, literally).

We had one TAC with a daughter in the Navy, and she was excited to experience the
same things her daughter had recently seen and done on the RTC, not too many people
could say that.  She went off the confidence deck with a smile in the last "stick"
of seniors.  She sent her daughter, who is at sea, a note about what she'd just done, and
her daughter responded with a photo of herself jumping off an aircraft elevator
50-ft above the ocean - now that's what I call a great game of 1-upper!

The Chaplain this year was Capt. Jill Paulson, grandaughter of Gill Robb Wilson, and a recent member
of CAP who has becme very active with her local unit, as well as nationally. She spoke of the CAP connection
to the Hindenburg.

Overall I got to play the "Emeritus" role, and really enjoyed it.   I also got to spend a fair amount of time with
a recently retired USAF CCM (E9).  Talk about BTDT.  Humble and positive - if his glass is still damp from the dishwasher,
he sees it as (at least) 1/2 full.  We absolutely need people of his caliber in mentorship and training roles in CAP.

To those reading this who let me play again this year (you know who you are), danke.  This stuff really
does get into your blood.

And for those who didn't make it this year - you shoulda been there!

[Extremepredjudice]

I am going to have to pay the money to come see you guys next year. Sounds like fun, and it'd be a pleasure to meet you, eclipse.

[Eclipse]

Apparently even though the photos were Google-able, they hadn't been officially released, so they all came up with placeholders.

That's why I edited them out.  I'll fix once they are released.

[Майор Хаткевич]

Apparently even though the photos were Google-able, they hadn't been officially released, so they all came up with placeholders.

That's why I edited them out.  I'll fix once they are released.

Thanks for another tease...It's been four years...09, 10, 11, 12 that I've missed. Still missing it.

[Eclipse]

At some point the photos I referred to above were vetted by the Navy and released (no one tells me anything).

The whole set is here:  http://s1137.photobucket.com/albums/n514/griggs5113/GreatLakes%20Bulletin12/

[Майор Хаткевич]

Was this the first time the Navy did the fog/lifeboat for CAP in the Combat Pool?

[Eclipse]

Was this the first time the Navy did the fog/lifeboat for CAP in the Combat Pool?

As far as I know / remember.  Last year they did more swim training, and participants had some relatively free time in the pool after the confidence
jumps.  In years past they've done stuff like buddy swims, demos of swimming in a full jumpsuit, etc. It depends on who is running the pool at the time.

Always a great time, though.

[SarDragon]

Nice pool. It beats the crap out of the ones I used when I was at G'Lakes in 1969.

Where is it located, RTC side, or NTC side?

[Eclipse]

RTC.

If you haven't been there in the last 10 years, you would not recognize the place.  I've been lucky enough to have been there since the
recapitalization started and got to see the evolution of the entire base.  With the exception of a few buildings retained for historic reasons,
the entire place is brand new.

This video shows off everything nicely.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMUHFQnj7uI&
Other than the haircuts and BS21, Spring got to use everything shown this year.

To really see the evolution, go to NSGL in Google Earth and use the time slider to see how things have changed.
We did a full photo survey for the base commander in 2003 and there's very little in those photos that is on the map today.

BTW - for any reading this who attended, credit has posted, so please make sure to check your eServices records.

[SarDragon]

I was looking on Google Earth a few months ago, and saw that all the buildings that I was in during boot camp are all gone. The barracks were only a year or two old when I was there, and the last one came down around the summer of '09.